Pet owners, particularly those who have domesticated dogs, must often take their pets outside so that the pet may urinate and/or defecate. This process may become difficult when the pet owner lives in a confined environment, such as crowded city areas, or lives in an environment that becomes particularly cold during the year. Additionally, the process may also become difficult when the pet owner lacks mobility or is required to be away from the pet during long portions of the day.
It is known to provide a litter box for domesticated animals, particularly felines. In a simple form, litter boxes are boxes that contain a dry absorbent substance, generally known as litter, in which the animal may urinate or defecate. However, litter boxes present a number of problems such as odor, uncleanness (particularly due to handling of litter by owners and tracking of litter by pets) and general difficulties in cleaning out the litter.
Numerous advances have been made to litter boxes to avoid these problems. Examples include but are not limited to the following. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,318 discloses a litter box which cleans itself automatically, and separates the soiled litter from the clean litter, storing the soiled litter in a receptacle and replacing the consumed litter by clean reserve litter. U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,629 discloses a simplified and easy to use cat litter box comprising an oval support member configured for attachment to the inside surface of a conventional toilet bowl, a removable tray slidably inserted through an opening in the front side of the oval support member which is configured to cover the toilet bowl opening and upon which flushable cat litter is placed during use, and stationary teeth attached to the inside front surface of the oval support member which engage the upper surface of the removable tray as it is slidably withdrawn from the front opening to empty used flushable cat litter directly into the toilet bowl for flushing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,435 discloses a pet toilet that has electronic sensing detection devices built within its parallel walls of a housing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,461 discloses a self-cleaning litter box for cats employing a comb drive to drive a comb through litter to remove waste from the litter. U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,868 discloses a self-cleaning cat litter box apparatus comprising a litter tray for containing a quantity of cat litter, a waste bin, and a mesh basket sized for having lower regions received into the litter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,900 a portable electromechanical apparatus for easily and hygienically managing and disposing of pet wastes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,035 discloses a self-cleaning litter box assembly for litter using pets, which is capable of providing new litter and disposing of soiled litter for extended periods while minimizing human contact.
While these devices certainly contribute to the art of providing a waste collection and disposal devices for pet, there still remains a need for advancement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a waste collection device that may cleanly disposes of pet waste. It is also an object of the present invention which may also minimize the odors associated with pet waste removal. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a semi-automated method of waste disposal.